(589683) 2010 RF43
Trans-Neptunian object
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(589683) 2010 RF43 (provisional designation 2010 RF43) is a large trans-Neptunian object orbiting in the scattered disc in the outermost regions of the Solar System. The object was discovered on 9 September 2010, by American astronomers David Rabinowitz, Megan Schwamb and Suzanne Tourtellotte at ESO's La Silla Observatory in northern Chile.[1]
_2010_RF43_orbit_diagram_jpl.png)
Orbit diagram of 2010 RF43 | |
| Discovery[1][2] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | D. L. Rabinowitz M. Schwamb S. Tourtellotte |
| Discovery site | La Silla Obs. |
| Discovery date | 6 September 2010 |
| Designations | |
| (589683) 2010 RF43 | |
| 2010 RF43 | |
| TNO[3][4] · SDO[5] · distant[1] | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 31 May 2020 (JD 2459000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 2 | |
| Observation arc | 46.17 yr (~16,860 days) |
| Earliest precovery date | 19 August 1976[1] |
| Aphelion | 61.903 AU |
| Perihelion | 37.482 AU |
| 49.692 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2457 |
| 350.30 yr (127,948 d) | |
| 97.520° | |
| 0° 0m 10.08s / day | |
| Inclination | 30.638° |
| 25.320° | |
| 193.480° | |
| Known satellites | 0 |
| Physical characteristics | |
| â650 km (estimate)[4] | |
| 0.09 (assumed)[4] 0.11 (assumed)[6] | |
| 3.80[3] | |
2010 RF43 has not yet been imaged by high-resolution telescopes, so it has no known moons.[7] The Hubble Space Telescope is planned to image 2010 RF43 in 2026, which should determine if it has significantly sized moons.[7]
Orbit and classification
2010 RF43 orbits the Sun at a distance of 37.5â61.9 AU once every 350 years and 4 months (127,948 days; semi-major axis of 49.7 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.25 and an inclination of 31° with respect to the ecliptic.[3] The body's observation arc begins with a precovery observation taken at Siding Spring Observatory in August 1976.[1]
Due to its relatively high eccentricity and inclination, it is an object of the scattered disc rather than one of the regular Kuiper belt.[2][8] However its perihelion of 37.5 AU is too low to make it a detached object, which typically stay above 40 AU and never come close to the orbit of Neptune.
Numbering and naming
This minor planet was numbered by the Minor Planet Center on 20 September 2021, receiving the number 589683 in the minor planet catalog (M.P.C. 135075).[9] As of January 2026[update], it has not been named.[1]
Physical characteristics
Diameter and albedo
Johnston's Archive estimates a mean diameter of approximately 650 kilometers (400 mi).[4] This number has changed as the reported albedo has changed.
Rotation period
As of 2020, no rotational lightcurve of this object has been obtained from photometric observations. The object's rotation period, pole and shape remain unknown.[3]
